Elyria looking to expand block watch in neighborhoods

By
Kaylee Remington, The Morning Journal

Friday, March 21, 2014

ELYRIA — The city of Elyria wants to help build on the neighborhood block watch groups in the city to expand to other target areas.Currently, there are 11 block watch groups in Elyria.Elyria Mayor Holly Brinda said the city is targeting two areas to restart and three to begin a new block watch group, bring the total amount of groups to 16.A meeting, Building Better Neighborhoods: Keeping You Safe Where You Live Project takes place from 9 a.m. to noon April 5 at Elyria City Hall.The meeting will introduce city personnel, block watch coordinators and speakers. An overview of the program will be presented by Kelly Johnson, the neighborhood block watch coordinator. Also, Elyria police Sgt. James Welsh and an Ohio Attorney General’s Office representative will speak on scams and identity theft.Brinda said the city wants to help because of the significant impact the groups have on fighting and preventing crime. During a planning session last year, the Elyria Police Department shared crime analysis results. With those results, Brinda said they have been able to identify crime trends and anticipate them.The city saw a 31 percent decrease in crime in 2013 from 2012. “We certainly want to build on this,” Brinda said. “These are all volunteers doing this.”In some neighborhoods, there has never been a block watch, Brinda said, so they have identified five areas in the city that they would like to strengthen previous initiatives or start new block watches to build on the foundation.“The workshop is going to provide an opportunity for people who want to start a block watch to talk to people who are already providing block watch services,” she said. “I can’t say enough about the people who have stepped forward.” Creating block watches has helped build relationships with neighbors.“A lot of people in my experience are willing to help, but they just aren’t sure how,” Brinda said.The city is trying to provide an organized framework so volunteers can bring their expertise to the city, she said.“I’m really heartened by all the work our block watches across the city are doing,” Brinda said. “This takes a lot of time, I mean it really does. It really does take a lot of work to keep these going.”The proposed expansion of the block watch includes restarting one at Winward and Thornwood drives. New block watches are anticipated to start new at Route 113, East Broad Street and Stanford Avenue.